Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure, for example, relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to adjusting signal strength thresholds for roaming of a wireless device in a dense access point (AP) environment.
Description of Related Art
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). A wireless network, for example a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), such as a Wi-Fi network (IEEE 802.11) may include an access point (AP) that may communicate with one or more stations (STAs) or mobile devices. The AP may be coupled to a network, such as the Internet, and enable a mobile device to communicate via the network (and/or communicate with other devices coupled to the access point).
Some WLAN environments may include a large number of APs within a small area. These environments may be considered high density AP environments. Wireless devices in a high density AP environment using existing roaming mechanisms may not efficiently roam among the APs. Existing roaming mechanisms may use a static received signal strength indication (RSSI) threshold. These static thresholds may not be very suitable for a wireless device within a high density AP environment. For example, a current Wi-Fi roaming implementation is designed to enable roaming when the RSSI is below −76 Decibel-milliwatts (dBm). However, in a high density AP environment, the RSSI from the closest AP may be above −65 dBm. Furthermore, a wireless device in a high density environment can perform unnecessary channel scans that drain power resources. Only a single channel map is used and replaced with each channel scan.